Keys for assembling the upper half-bearing of an axle-box



Sept. 26, 1961 J. BoUvAT-MARTIN 3,001,835

KEYS FOR AssEMELING THE UPPER HALE-BEARING oF AN AxLE-Box Filed Feb. 5, 1960 e sneetssnm 1 aept. 26, 1961 J. BouvA-r-MARTIN 3,001,836

KEYS FOR AssEMBLING THE UPPER HALF-BEARING oF AN AxLE-Box Filed Feb. 5. 1960 s sheets-sheet 2 Sept. 26, 1961 J. BoUvA'r-MARTIN 3,001,836

KEYS FOR ASSEMBLING THE UPPER HALF-BEARING OF AN AXLE-BOX Filed Feb. 5, 1960 e sneetssneet s Figil IIII Sept. 26, 1961 J. BouvA'r-MARTIN 3,001,835

xEYs FOR AssEMBLING THE UPPER HALF-BEARING 0E .AN AxLE-Box 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 5, 1960 Sept. 26, 1961 J. BoUvA'r-MARTIN 3,001,836

KEYS FOR SSEMBLING THE UPPER HALF-BEARING 0F AN AXLE-BOX Filed Feb. 5, 1960 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 www Sept. 26, 1961 J. BouvAT-MARTIN 3,001,836

Kms Fon AssEMBLING THE UPPER HALF-BEARING oF AN AxLE-Box Filed Feb. 5, 1960 8 sheets-sheet 6 Sept. 26, 1961 J. BouvAT-MARTIN 3,001,836

KEYS Foa AssEMBLING THE UPPER HALF-BEARING oF AN AxLE-Box 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Feb. 5, 1960 Sept. 26, 1961 J. BoUvA'r-MARTIN 3,001,836

KEYS FOR AssEMBLING THE: UPPER HALF-BEARING oF AN AxLE-Box 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Feb. 5. 1960 s om sse y y KEYS son ASSEMBLIG UPPER HALF- BEARING or AN Axrnaox Jean Bouvet-Martn, Paris, France, assigner to' Societe" Axle-boxes, notably for railway rolliu'g-stoekconstruction, comprise an assembly key adapted to be inserted between. the upper half-bearing andthe upper portion of the;

box or` case after the bearing, has been fittedaround the mushroom-shaped stub shaft of the: axle.

modern railway rolling-stock this key is generally secured in the longitudinal or axial direction by' ai transverse projection carried by the. upper face of thexkey and adaptedV to` engage the: Walls ofy acer-responding recessr formed in the upper portion of the axle-box'.V Consequently, when assembling keys of this general. type the box must be lifted above the stub shaft andi` hearing tol an extent sufficient to provide between. the upper face of the bearing and the upper portion of the! box a gap permitting thel passage of the key andof the' projection thereon. Now under practical conditions this: operation. necessita-tes'. the preliminary dismantling of the counter-bearing ou waste packing before lifting the box, and. this is scarcely feasible unless a rather complicated mounting` of this= counter-bearing is resorted to.

4'It is the essential object oi this invention to' provide'. a-

ke'y fori assembling the upper half-bearing of an axle-boxu that will easily lit therein and lock itself automatically against' longitudinalmovement after the box' has been liftedonl'y moderately with respectto the stub shaft' and; the upper half-bearing, this lifting movement being per-'- mitted only by taking up the play existing between the A counter-bearing and the stub shaft ofthe axle.

This assemblyv key has a substantially prismatic body havingV pivoted on Iits front end a pawl adapted, upon completion of the movement'by which the key-is' inserted? between the bearing and the upper portion of the box, to engage by gravity the rear face of aV shoulder formed on the bearing.

The features and advantages characterizing invention. will appear more' in detail Vand completely from the following, description given by way of example of the nrlanner in. which the invention may be carried on the ptaotic'e with reference to the attached drawings forming part of specification. In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal axial section showing' a known ymethod of. holding the key against longitudinali movement, which is not applicable to axle-boxes provided with mechanical lubricating means comprising a member secured on the mushroom stub shaftL for' rotation therewith.

FIGURE 2 is a similar view showing another known method of holding the key by-means` of a transverse projection carried by its upper face and engaging alcorresponding recess formed in the upper portion of the axlebox.

FIGURE 3 shows a typical example of the counterbearing mountings necessary for permitting the use of a key of the general type illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIGURE 4 is a detail View showing a key according to the invention.

FIGURE 5 is a plane view from above of the key of FlG. 4.

FIGURE 6 shows in longitudinal axial section the same key upon completion of the fitting thereof between the bearing and the upper portion of the box.

FIGURE 7 shows the same key before its removal.

rates aterrt ice 2l FIGURES 8l and 9 show the same key during.'y the'twog successive steps of its dismantling.

FIGURE l0 shows the behaviour of the same key when it is attempted to assemble it wrongly.

Most plain-bearing axle-boxes comprise an intermedi-f ate membervcalled assembly key (such asl in. FIG. l) positioned between the upper half-bearing 2 and the upper portion 3' ofthe axle-box body; the essential function of this key is to permitthe assembling; and` disassemblin'g ofi thel bearing in the. axle-box. body when the latter is? mounted on the vehicle. An4 additional function of` thi-Sil key is to permit theA oscillationof the axle-box body in; relation: to the. bearing and stub' shaft assembly.v The?. necessity of this member resultsl from the presencey ofa; mushroom-shaped portion 4v forged on the-outer. end ofthe; stub-sbatte. This mushroom 4' prevents the bearing from,

being inserted or removed by simply displacingV it ina. rection parallel. tofthe axle` axis. Consequently, therbearing To maintain the assembly key in position constitlvlte another problem'which is' usually solved in a simple manner ini plain-bearing axle-boxes of the typeemploying. w lubricating pad',` as shown in FIG. l, by causing the key to engage with Ia retaining projection o carried bythe? inner face ofthe axle-box cover 7.

However,` in axle-boxes with mechanical lubrication comprising a member secured on the mushroom and rotating bodily therewith this solution is irnpracticable.y l-n thisi case the key is held against longitudinal displace ment: either by a central projection such as the projection 8 formed on they upper face of the key la? in FIG. 2, or' by an end heel, the height of this projection or heel bein-g so determined that the clearance resulting from the lifting of the box body will permit the longitudinal removal off the aforesaid projection or heel. Now as a rule axleboxes' with mechanical lubrication comprising a wasteA packing or a counter-bearing in the lower half- (that is, diametrall-y opposite to the bearing proper), and a special,- device must be used for dismantling the waste packing or thecounter-bearing before lifting the'A box' body, in order to` provide a su'ilicient lifting clearance' or height. Thenec'essit-y of dismantling the counter-beating. (such as!` 9 in- FIG. 3) and of providing intermediate means 19' for' permitting this dismantling make the axle-box` maine' tainancel operations rather* complicated and increase theirmanufacturing and maintainance cost.

The key according to this invention may be tted inposition without dismantling the counter-bearing.

This key consists of. a substantially prismatic body A (See` FIGS.` 4 andv 5); having a. notch E formed in its front portion; Afpawl C formed with a retaining catcliu. D and a front lug L is pivoted on a pin B in the notch E. For positioning this key, the upper portion 3 of the axle-box body is rst lifted, as shown in FIG. 6, up to the level corresponding to the normal clearance j between the counter-bearing and the stub-shaft. The pawl is raised by rotating same, so that its lug L rests upon the key body A in a position similar to that shown in FIG. 9. Then the key is rapidly pushed into the interval between the bearing and the upper portion 3 of the axle body. Thus, the lug L will strike the axle-box body 3 and the pawl will be tilted in the counter-clockwise direction, as seen on the drawing, during the final portion of the movement of translation of the key to the Patented Sept. 26, 1961 rear. The pawl will then iit automatically by gravity into the slot M of the bearing, as shown in FIG. 6. As the axle-box body portion 3 is released, it bears upon the key body A so as to lock the pawl C in the closed position as shown in FIG. 7.

Under these conditions, the pawl will tit automatically by gravity in the bearing cavity M. Upon releasing the box the upper portion thereof will bear on the body, thus locking the pawl C in the closed position as shown in FIG. 6.

V- When dismantling the key, as shown in FIG. 7, the longitudinal clearance I between the rear end of the key and a rear shoulder F of bearing 23 permits of pushing the key home backwards in order to release the pawl C by tilting same about its pivot pin B while lifting the front lug L thereof, as shown in FIG. 8. Then, it is an easy matter, as illustrated in FIG. 9, to continue the pivoting movement of the pawl C which has begun during the preceding step so that the lug L will contact the box body 3. Thus, the key can be extracted freely. This double rotational movement of the pawl constitutes a safety factor in the locking of the key. Of course, before rotating the pawl to release same, the axle-box 3 must be lifted to the extent permitted by the clearance j.

According to this invention, the pawl C is formed with a pair of flat faces, P, Q and there is provided between the pivot pin B and the corresponding bore in the pawl a play suicient to avoid the transmission to the pin B of any longitudinal stress likely to develop during the operation of the axle-box.

Finally, according to another feature of this invention, the pawl C is so shaped that it is not possible to fit the key in a wrong manner as shown, that is, with the retaining catch D turned upwards.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the present invention as applied to a single form of embodiment, it will bereadily understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

l. A key for assembling the upper half-bearing of an axle-box, which is adapted to fit in position so as to lock itself automatically in the longitudinal direction after the slight lifting of the box-body with respect to the stub shaft of the axle and to the upper half-bearing, this slight lifting movement being permitted only by taking up the play between the counter-bearing and the stub shaft, said key comprising a prismatic body of substantially rectangular cross-section which has a lower face adapted to bear against the upper half-bearing, an upper face adapted to support said box body and a front end formed with a vertical intermediate slot so as to constitute a strap having a liat, vertical bottom face in said key, a cylindrical'transversal pin fitted in said strap anda pawl pivotally mounted in said strap on said pin and adapted to lock said key in relation to said upper half-bearing, s'aid pawl being formed at its lower portion with a stopforming catch adapted, during the gravity pivoting movement of said pawl, to engage a slot formed in said upper half-bearing and, being formed, at its front end, with a lug adapted, when lifted, to retract said stop-forming catch above said slot in said upper half-bearing, during the fitting and removal of said key.

2. An assembly key as set forth in claim l, wherein said upper half-bearing carries in its rear portion a shoulder limiting the rearward movement applicable to said key to a position in which said pawl can pivot freely when said lug is fitted and without causing said stopforming catch to be held against movement by said upper half-bearing, until said catch has been retracted to a position above said slot.

3. An assembly key as set forth in claim l, wherein said pawl contour is formed at its upper portion above said pivot pin and at its rear portion beneath said pivot pin with flat faces adapted, in the engaged position of said key, to bear under said axle-box portion and against said vertical and at bottom face of said strap in said body, said pawl being mounted with a certain clearance on its pivot pin so as to be free of any stress when said key is engaged.

' 4. In an axle box assembly having a body, and an upper half bearing and a counter bearing mounted in said body for journalling a stub shaft, and a key for horizontally inward inserting between said upper half bearing and the body to assemble said bearings in said axle box, an improved combination of means for automatically locking said key by gravity in inserted place comprising; a center, vertical notch having a vertical end face defined in an end of said key; a pin mounted in said notched end of said key transverse said notch; a pawl having a center ofl gravity, pivotally mounted on said pin which defines an axis of rotation that is offset from said center of gravity, said pawl being formed with an inner iiat side for engaging the vertical end face of said notch, an adjacent lower side sloping downwardly and outwardly to define a retaining catch with a locking face, an adjacent upper side with rounded corners and normal to said at side the retaining catch, said outer side defining an outwardly extending projection normal to and adjacent said locking face for limiting pivoting of said pawl and for pivoting said pawl against the force of gravity; said upper half bearing having an outer end and dening a shoulder and a cavity in said outer end; said projection and retaining catch biasing by the force of gravity said pawl to pivot about its axis of rotation to engage said retaining catch in said cavity and said projection -against said shoulder; said counter bearing being shaped to loosely journal said stub shaft for providing play to raise said body sufficiently for said retaining catch to clear said shoulder and engage in said cavity when said key is inserted in place with the pawl end outward to thereby locking the pawl in position when the body is released.

958,758 Neuhs May 24, 1910 

